Much of the stadium incorporates design elements from the previous Yankee Stadium, thus paying homage to Yankee history. Although stadium construction began in August 2006, the project of building a new stadium for the Yankees is one that spanned many years and faced many controversies. The stadium was built on what had been 24 acres (97,000 m2) of public parkland. Replacement baseball fields opened in April 2012. Also controversial was the price tag of $1.5 billion,[18] which makes it not only the most expensive baseball stadium ever built, but the second-most expensive stadium of any kind (after MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey).[19]

New York City MayorRudolph Giuliani had already been instrumental in the construction of taxpayer-funded minor league baseball facilities MCU Park for the Mets' minor league Brooklyn Cyclones and Richmond County Bank Ballpark for the Staten Island Yankees. Shortly before leaving office in December 2001, he announced "tentative agreements" for both the New York Yankees and New York Mets to build new stadiums. Of $1.5 billion sought for the stadiums, city and state taxpayers would pick up half the tab for construction, $800 million, along with $390 million on extra transportation.[22] The plan also said that the teams would be allowed to keep all parking revenues, which state officials had already said they wanted to keep to compensate the state for building new garages for the teams.[23] The teams would keep 96% of ticket revenues and 100% of all other revenues, not pay sales tax or property tax on the stadium, and would get low-cost electricity from the state of New York.[23] Business officials criticized the plan as giving too much money to successful teams with little reason to move to a different city.[23]

Michael Bloomberg, who succeeded Giuliani as mayor in 2002, called the former mayor's agreements "corporate welfare" and exercised the escape clause in the agreements to back out of both deals, saying that the city could not afford to build new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets. Bloomberg said that unbeknownst to him, Giuliani had inserted a clause in this deal which loosened the teams' leases with the city and would allow the Yankees and Mets to leave the city on 60 days' notice to find a new home elsewhere if the city backed out of the agreement.[22][23] At the time, Bloomberg said that publicly funded stadiums were a poor investment. Under Bloomberg, the New York City government would only offer public financing for infrastructure improvements; the teams would have to pay for the stadium themselves.

The proposal for the current stadium was unveiled by the Yankees in 2004. The team scrapped plans to build a retractable roof, saving $200 million in construction costs.[24]

Construction

[25][26] The Yankees continued to play in the previous Yankee Stadium during the 2007 and 2008 seasons while their new home stadium was built across the street.

Financing

$1.5 million of New York state tax revenue will be used to build parking garages (as authorized by the State Legislature). The parking garage project would cost $320 million. City and state taxpayers will forgo up to $7.5 million annually in lost taxes resulting from the sale of $225 million in tax-exempt bonds authorized on October 9, 2007, by the New York City Industrial Development Agency (administered by the New York City Economic Development Corporation) to finance construction and renovation of the parking garages.[32][33] However, if the parking revenues are not enough to pay a reported $3.2 million land lease to the city, the entity that will operate the parking garages and collect revenue will be able to defer that payment.[34]

Features

The new stadium is meant to be very similar in design to the original Yankee Stadium, both in its original 1923 state and its post-renovation state in 1976. The exterior resembles the original look of the 1923 Yankee Stadium. The interior, a modern ballpark with greater space and increased amenities, features a playing field that closely mimics the 1988–2008 dimensions of the old park. The current stadium features 4,300 club seats and 68 luxury suites.

Design and layout

The Indiana limestone exterior, shown at Gate 4, mirrors that used on the original Yankee Stadium in 1923

The stadium was designed by the architect firm HOK Sport. The exterior was made from 11,000 pieces of Indiana limestone, along with granite and pre-cast concrete.[35] The design closely mirrors the exterior of the original Yankee Stadium when it first opened in 1923.[35] The exterior features the building's name V-cut and gold-leaf lettered above each gate.[35] The interior of the stadium is adorned with hundreds of photographs capturing the history of the Yankees. The New York Daily News newspaper partnered with the Yankees for the exhibition "The Glory of the Yankees Photo Collection", which was selected from the Daily News' collection of over 2,000 photographs.[36] Sports & The Arts was hired by the Yankees to curate the nearly 1,300 photographs that adorn the building from sources including the Daily News, Getty Images, the Baseball Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball.

The seats are laid out similar to the original stadium's stands, with grandstand seating that stretches beyond the foul poles, as well as bleacher seats beyond the outfield fences. The Field Level and Main Level comprise the lower bowl, with suites on the H&R Block Level, and the Upper Level and Grandstand Level comprising the upper bowl.[37] Approximately two-thirds of the stadium's seating is in the lower bowl, the inverse from the original Yankee Stadium.[37] 50,287 fans can be seated, with a standing room capacity of 52,325.[38] The new stadium's seating is spaced outward in a bowl, unlike the stacked-tiers design at the old stadium. This design places most fans farther back but lower to the field, by about an average of 30 feet (9.1 m). Over 56 suites are located within the ballpark, triple the amount from the previous stadium.[35] Seats are 19–24 inches (48–61 cm) wide, up from the previous stadium's 18–22-inch (46–56 cm) wide seats, while there is 33–39 inches (84–99 cm) of leg room, up from 29.5 inches (75 cm) of leg room in the previous stadium.[37] Many lower level seats are cushioned, while all seats are equipped with cupholders.[37] To allow for the extra seating space, the stadium's capacity is reduced by more than 4,000 seats in comparison to the previous stadium.[37]

The frieze that lined the roof of the original Yankee Stadium from 1923 to 1973 is replicated on the current stadium's roof

Many design elements of the ballpark's interior are inspired by the original Yankee Stadium. The roof of the new facility features a replica of the frieze that was a trademark of the previous ballpark.[37] In the original Yankee Stadium, a copper frieze originally lined the roof of the upper deck stands, but it was torn down during the 1974–75 renovations and replicated atop the wall beyond the bleachers.[37] The new stadium replicates the frieze in its original location along the upper deck stands.[37] Made of steel coated with zinc for rust protection, it is part of the support system for the cantilevers holding up the top deck and the lighting on the roof.[39] The wall beyond the bleacher seats is "cut out" to reveal the subway trains as they pass by, like they were in the original facility. A manually operated auxiliary scoreboard is built into the left and right field fences, in the same locations it existed in the pre-renovation iteration of the original Yankee Stadium.[37]

The Great Hall is situated along the southern front of the stadium

Between the exterior perimeter wall and interior of the stadium is the "Great Hall", a large concourse that runs between Gates 4 and 6.[40] With seven-story ceilings, the Great Hall features more than 31,000 square feet (2,900 m2) of retail space and is lined with 20 banners of past and present Yankees superstars.[40] The Great Hall features a 5-by-383-foot (1.5 by 116.7 m) LED (light-emitting diode) ribbon display as well as a 25' by 36' LED video display above the entrance to the ballpark from Daktronics, a company in Brookings, South Dakota.[40][41]

Field dimensions and playing surface

The view from the Grandstand Level (400 Level)

The field dimensions for the outfield fences have the same distance markers as the original facility prior to closing yet the dimensions are not identical.[46] Due to the design of the right-field stands and the inclusion of an embedded manual scoreboard, the right-field wall is an average of 5 feet (1.5 m) closer to home plate.[47] Overall, the fences measure 318 feet (97 m) to left field, 399 feet (122 m) to left-center field, 408 feet (124 m) to center field, 385 feet (117 m) to right-center field, and 314 to right field.[37][38] At the old Yankee Stadium, the right field wall curved from the right-field corner to straightaway center, while at the new ballpark the fence takes a sharp, almost entirely straight angle.[47] This results in a difference at certain points between the right field markers of as much as 9 feet (2.7 m).[47] The dimensions in left field are substantially the same despite the presence of an embedded auxiliary scoreboard there as well.[47]

The outfield fences measure 8 feet 5 inches (2.57 m) high from the left-field foul pole until the Yankees' bullpen, when the fences begin to gradually descend in height until the right field foul pole, where they are only 8 feet (2.4 m) tall.[37] This also marks a decrease from the previous Yankee Stadium, where the outfield walls stood at a height of approximately 10 feet (3.0 m).[46] The distance from home plate to the backstop is 52 feet 4 inches (15.95 m), a reduction of 20 feet (6.1 m) from the previous facility.[38] The field is made up of Kentucky bluegrass, the same surface as the previous stadium, which is grown on a 1,300 acres (530 ha) farm in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The grass is equipped with a drainage system (featuring over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) of pipe) that makes the field playable an hour after taking 2 inches (51 mm) of rain.[37]

Amenities and facilities

Yankee Stadium features a wide array of amenities. It contains 63 percent more space, 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) more in total, than the previous stadium, with wider concourses and open sight lines on concourses.[35] Along with 227 miles (365 km) of wired Ethernet cable, the building has sufficient fiber-optic cable wiring that Cisco Vice President and Treasurer David Holland calls the building "future proof".[35] Over 1,100 high-definition video monitors are placed within the stadium and approximately $10 million worth of baseball merchandise is housed within the ballpark.[35]

The center field scoreboard, manufactured by Mitsubishi Diamond Vision, measures 59 x 101 feet (31 m) and offers 5,925 square feet (550.5 m2) of viewing area. It was the third-largest high definition scoreboard in the world when it opened (behind the 8,736-square-foot (811.6 m2) board at newly renovated Kauffman Stadium and the new 8,066-square-foot (749.4 m2) board at the renovated Tokyo Racecourse).[49] Since then, it has also been surpassed by the world's largest scoreboard at the new Cowboys Stadium and the new scoreboard at the Philadelphia PhilliesCitizens Bank Park.[50][51] Displaying 5,925 ft (1,806 m)² of video, the scoreboard can display four 1080p high definition images simultaneously.[37]

The Yankees clubhouse features 30,000 square feet (2,880m)² of space, over 2.5 times the space of the clubhouse from the previous facility.[52] The dressing area alone features 3,344 ft (1,019 m)² of space, with each locker equipped with a safety deposit box and touch-screen computer.[52] The Yankees clubhouse features a weight room, training room, video room, and lounge area, while both teams' clubhouses have their own indoor batting cages.[52] The Yankees' therapy room features a hydrotherapy pool with an underwater treadmill.[52] The Yankees are believed to be the first team to chemically treat their uniforms, as well as the showering surfaces with an anti-bacterial agent that reduces the risk of infection.[52]

The New York Yankees Museum, located on the lower level at Gate 6, displays a wide range of Yankees' memorabilia.[53] A "Ball Wall" features hundreds of balls autographed by past and present Yankees, and there are plans to eventually add autographs for every living player who has played for the Yankees.[53] The centerpiece of the museum is a tribute to Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, with a commemorative home plate in the floor and statues of Larsen pitching to Yogi Berra.[53] Along with a facsimile of a current locker from the Yankees' clubhouse, fans can view the locker of the late Thurman Munson, which sat unoccupied in the previous stadium's Yankee clubhouse in honor of Munson.[53]

The ballpark offers a wide choice of restaurants. There are 25 fixed concessions stands, along with 112 moveable ones.[40] A Hard Rock Cafe is located within the ballpark, but it is open to anyone at the 161 St. and River Ave. entrance year round.[40] The Hard Rock Cafe at Yankee Stadium officially opened on March 30, 2009, and an opening ceremony took place on April 2, 2009.[54] A steakhouse called NYY Steak is located beyond right field.[40] Celebrity chefs will occasionally make appearances at the ballpark's restaurants and help prepare food for fans in premium seating over the course of the season.[40] Above Monument Park in center field is the Mohegan Sun sports bar, whose tinted black glass acts as the ballpark's batter's eye. The sports bar obstructs the view of approximately 600 bleacher seats in the right and left field bleachers, preventing fans from seeing the action occurring deep in the opposite side of the outfield. In response, the Yankees installed TV monitors on the sides of the sports bar's outer walls, and have reduced the price of these obstructed-view seats from $12 to $5.[55][56]

Public opinion

Opening and public perception

The stadium, as seen from the upper deck in 2010

Although Yankee Stadium has been praised for its amenities and its usage of "classic" design elements from the original facility, the new stadium has been widely criticized for fan-unfriendly practices.[57][58] Seats within the first eight rows in the lower bowl, called the "Legends Suite", rank among the highest priced tickets in professional sports, with the average ticket in the section selling for $510 and the most expensive single game-day ticket costing $2,600.[57] Legends Suite Seats have been regularly empty, with many ticket holders in this section having given up their tickets, and others remaining unsold, despite most other seats in the ballpark selling out. This has created an embarrassing image on television of the seats behind home plate being almost completely vacant.[57] Consequently, a surplus of tickets for Legends Seats have emerged in the secondary market, and with supply exceeding demand, resale prices have dropped. Empty seats in the Legends Suite could even be seen during the 2009 playoffs, including World Series games. Even though all playoff games have been sellouts, Legends Suite ticket holders are in the lounges and the restaurant underneath instead of their seats.[59][60] The overall average ticket price is $63, the highest in the majors.[61]

Legends Suite seats are also separate from the other lower bowl seating and are vigorously patrolled by stadium security, with the divider being described as a "concrete moat".[57][58] Fans that do not have tickets within this premium section in the front rows are not allowed to access it, nor stand behind the dugouts during batting practice to watch players hit or request autographs.[57][58]

The Yankee Stadium staff was also criticized for an incident during a May 4, 2009 game, which was interrupted by a rain delay.[62] Fans were told by some staff members that the game was unlikely to resume and consequently, many fans exited the stadium, only for the game to eventually resume play.[62] The fans that left the ballpark were not permitted to re-enter, per the stadium's re-entry policy, and many subsequently got into arguments with stadium personnel.[62] In response to the backlash the Yankees received for the incident, the staff members were required to sign a gag order preventing them from speaking to media, but they did indicate that communication for rain delays would be improved.[62]

Late in the stadium's first season, cracks were seen on the concrete ramps of the Stadium. The Yankees are trying to determine whether there was something wrong with the concrete, or the ramps' installation or design. The company involved in inspecting the concrete was indicted on charges that its employees either faked or failed to perform some required tests and falsified the results of others.[63]

The stadium has also been criticized for its lack of fan noise. During a Sunday Night Baseball telecast in 2012, commentator and former Red Sox manager Terry Francona spoke about the different atmospheres in the old and new stadiums saying that "As a visiting team, especially for the Red Sox, by the time the (national) anthem was over, you couldn't wait to get back in the dugout. Now (there is) a little different (kind) of fan sitting around down there by the dugout." Games at the new stadium do not feature the same deafening crowd moments and often sound eerily silent.[64] The lack of fan noise has been noticeable in the 2012 playoffs as well, with thousands of unsold seats for Game 5 of the ALDS and Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS. "This is a very easy place to play now", said Quintin Berry of the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees' ALCS opponents. "Coming from Oakland, the fans there were so rowdy. It was easier to come here."[65] In his autobiography "The Closer", Yankees legend Mariano Rivera wrote these comments about the new stadium's atmosphere: “It doesn’t hold noise, or home-team fervor, anywhere near the way the old place did.” “The old Stadium was our 10th man — a loud and frenzied cauldron of pinstriped passion, with a lot of lifers in the stands. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s hard to see that the new place can ever quite duplicate that.[66] Derek Jeter echoed this sentiment in a September, 2014 article in New York Magazine, He [Jeter] misses the original Yankee Stadium. “It was a different feel,” Jeter says. “The new stadium, it’s second to none—all the amenities. For the players, it really doesn’t get any better. The old stadium, if you were at the stadium, in the stands, the only place you could see the game was in your seat. Now there’s so many suites and places people can go. So a lot of times it looks like it’s empty, but it’s really not. The old stadium, it was more intimidating. The fans were right on top of you.” [67]

Propensity for home runs

In 2009, the stadium was criticized for its propensity for allowing home runs, with 237 hit in its opening season

In its first season, Yankee Stadium quickly acquired a reputation as a "bandbox" and a "launching pad" due to the high number of home runs hit at the new ballpark.[68][69][70][71][72][73] Through its first 23 games, 87 home runs were hit at the venue, easily besting Enron Field's (now called Minute Maid Park) previous record set in 2000.[74] Early in the season, Yankee Stadium was on pace to break Coors Field's 1999 single-season record of 303 home runs allowed, and the hometown Daily News (using the back-page headline "Homers Odyssey") started publishing a daily graphic comparing each stadium's home run totals through a similar number of games.

ESPN commentator Peter Gammons denounced the new facility as "one of the biggest jokes in baseball" during an appearance on Mike and Mike in the Morning, and concludes that "[it] was not a very well-planned ballpark".[70] Likewise, Gammons' ESPN colleague Buster Olney described the stadium as "a veritable wind tunnel"[68] and likened it to his childhood Wiffle-ball park.[75]Newsday columnist Wallace Matthews joined in the criticism, labeling the stadium "ridiculous" and accused "the franchise that took ownership of the home run" of cheapening it. He suggested that Babe Ruth could have potentially hit 120 or more homers if he played in the new Stadium. For his column, Matthews interviewed former Yankee Reggie Jackson, who termed the park "too small" to contain current player Alex Rodriguez. Jackson estimated that the park might enable the third baseman to hit 75 home runs in a season.[69]

A variety of theories have been posited to account for the dramatic increase in home runs at the new Yankee Stadium over the original stadium, foremost among these the sharper angles of the outfield walls[47] and the speculated presence of a wind tunnel.[68] During construction of the new ballpark, engineers commissioned a wind study, the results of which indicated there would be no noticeable difference between the two stadiums.[76] The franchise planned a second study, but Major League rules prohibit a team from making any changes to the playing field until the off-season.[76]

An independent study by the weather service provider AccuWeather in June 2009 concluded that the shape and height of the right field wall, rather than the wind, is responsible for the proliferation of home runs at the stadium.[77] AccuWeather's analysis found that roughly 20% of the home runs hit at the new ballpark would not have been home runs at the old ballpark due to the gentle curve of its right field corner, and its 10-foot (3.0 m) wall height.[77] Nothing was observed in wind speeds and patterns that would account for the increase.[77]

The number of home runs hit at the new stadium slowed significantly as the season progressed,[78] but a new single-season record for most home runs hit at a Yankee home ballpark was nonetheless set in the Yankees' 73rd home game of 2009 when Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hit the 216th home run of the season at the venue, surpassing the previous record of 215 set at the original Yankee Stadium in 2005.[79]

It should be noted that the Yankees offense, as in previous years, employed many home run hitters in 2009. The Yankees hit 108 home runs while playing on the road, the second most in baseball behind the Philadelphia Phillies.[80]

In 2010, the early rate of home runs were markedly less through May 15, 2010, with 35 home runs hit in 14 games for 2.5 per game (a projection of 205 – in 2009, the stadium finished at 2.93 per game for a total of 237.) Even though the stadium's home run rate decreased slightly for the 2010 season to 2.73 per game, it was still the highest figure in the majors.[81] However, the prolific home run rate of April and May 2009 that drew criticism has not sustained itself over any season thus far, and while through the first two months of the 2011 season the Yankees hit far more homers than any other team in the majors,[82] Yankee Stadium was not the top home run park.[81]

Stadium firsts

Before the official Opening Day against the Cleveland Indians April 16, 2009, the Yankees hosted a two-game exhibition series at the stadium in early April against the Russell Branyan, while playing for the Seattle Mariners, was the first player to hit a home run off of the Mohegan Sun Restaurant in center field. Like its predecessor, the new Yankee Stadium hosted the World Series in its very first season; in the 2009 World Series, the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4 games to 2. It also became the latest stadium to host a World Series-clinching victory by its home team in the venue's first season (after the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series at Busch Stadium in 2006), when, on November 4, 2009, the Yankees won their 27th World Series championship against the Phillies. The Yankees are the only team to inaugurate two stadiums with World Series wins and also appeared in the 1976 World Series following the refurbishment of the original Yankee Stadium. On October 6, 2011 Detroit Tigers in game five of the ALDS were the first team to eliminate the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium in the postseason.

Many historic milestones and records have been achieved at Yankee Stadium. In 2009, Derek Jeter became the Yankees all-time hits leader with his 2,722nd hit, surpassing Lou Gehrig's 72-year record.[84] The following season, Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run at the Stadium, becoming the youngest player to accomplish the feat.[85] In 2011, three significant milestones were achieved at the stadium. In July, Jeter became the first Yankee to join the 3000 hit club and collect all 3,000 hits with the franchise.[86] The following month, the Yankees became the first team in history to hit three grand slams in a single game.[87] As the regular season drew to a close, Mariano Rivera became the all-time leader in regular season saves, when he earned his 602nd save.[88] That game drew the smallest crowd in the three-year existence of Yankee Stadium, according to STATS LLC.

Yankee Stadium is accessible by car via the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87), with connections to the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95), Bruckner Expressway (I-278), and other highways and roads. Aside from existing parking lots and garages serving the stadium, construction for additional parking garages is planned. The New York State Legislature agreed to $70 million in subsidies for a $320 million parking garage project. On October 9, 2007, the New York City Industrial Development Agency approved $225 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance construction of three new parking garages that will have 3,600 new parking spaces, and renovation of the existing 5,569 parking spaces nearby.[92] Plans initially called for a fourth new garage, but this was eliminated before the final approval. The garages will be built (and renovated) by the Community Initiatives Development Corporation of Hudson, N.Y., a nonprofit entity that will use the parking revenue to repay the bonds and pay a $3 million yearly land lease to the City of New York. Parking is expected to cost $25 per game.[92]

Other events

Yankee Stadium in football configuration for a game between Army and Rutgers

The first non-baseball event at the current version of Yankee Stadium took place on the evening of Saturday, April 25, 2009, when Senior Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church held what was dubbed as a "Historic Night of Hope" Christian prayer service.[93]

On June 5, 2010, Yuri Foreman fought Cotto in the first boxing match in The Bronx since 1976. The fight was referred to as the "Stadium Slugfest". Cotto defeated Foreman with a TKO in the ninth round. Cotto captured the WBA super welterweight title and his fourth world title, before a crowd of 20,272.[96]

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish played a college football game at Yankee Stadium against The Army Black Knights on November 20, 2010, with the Irish defeating the Black Knights 27–3. This marked the two teams' first meeting in the Bronx since 1969.[97] Army played Rutgers in 2011 (Rutgers defeated Army 27–12),[98] and will play against Connecticut in 2014. Also in 2014, Lehigh and Lafayette played the 150th edition of their college football rivalry game at Yankee Stadium on November 22, 2014. Both teams played to a sold out stadium; Lafayette winning, 27-7.

Yankee Stadium hosted the newly created Pinstripe Bowl, an annual college football bowl game that pitted Syracuse (3rd place Big East) against Kansas State (7th place Big 12) on December 30, 2010. Syracuse defeated Kansas State 36–34 in a shootout, before a crowd of 38,274.[99]

NHL hockey games

The first NHL hockey event took place on January 26, 2014 between New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils as part of the 2014 NHL Stadium Series. The Rangers also faced off New York Islanders on January 29, 2014 under the deep cold outdoor weather. Both matches were expected to draw spectators at almost the full capacity of the stadium at 50,000 people. The Devils and Islanders never played an outdoor match before this series.[104]

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